Former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced her opposition to former President Donald Trump on the issue of freeing imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters.
In an interview on NBC News’s Meet the Press, McDaniel’s vocal opposition to Trump’s plan comes shortly after she was forced out as RNC chair by the former president.
“I want to be very clear — the violence that happened on Jan. 6 is unacceptable,” McDaniel answered when asked if she would support Trump’s promise to free Jan. 6 prisoners if elected. “It doesn’t represent our country. It certainly does not represent my party. We should not be attacking the Capitol. We should not be having violence. I said it that day. I put a statement out that day that this is not acceptable. If you attacked our capital and you have been … convicted, then that should stay.”
Host Kristen Welker pressed the former RNC chairwoman to say she disagreed with Trump.
“I do not think people who committed violent acts on January 6 should be freed,” she reiterated.
Welker then asked why McDaniel hadn’t spoken out earlier when she was head of the RNC.
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“When you’re the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team, right? Now I get to be a little bit more myself, Right? This is what I believe — I don’t think violence should be in our political discourse, Republican or Democrat,” she answered. “And I disagree with that. I agree with [Trump] on a whole host of other things — let’s close the border. Let’s make sure we have good incomes for people. Let’s make sure we do a lot of great things. But on that point, I don’t think we should be freeing people who violently attacked Capitol Hill police officers and attacked the Capitol.”
McDaniel was pushed out of her position as RNC chairwoman earlier this month after Trump expressed dissatisfaction with her leadership. She was then hired as an NBC News contributor, to the outrage of many at the company.
